Carmelo Anthony Faces Obstacles In Marketing Rebound

Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony is profiled by ESPN THE MAGAZINE’s Tom Farrey, who notes
Anthony’s appearance in “Stop Snitching,” an underground DVD released in ’04 that
“discourages cooperation with the police, specifically by drug dealers.” Anthony
appears in “a few scenes, mostly in the background ... and never advocates drug
dealing or use, much less violence.” However, his appearance at all “was damning
enough.” His agent “left messages pleading with [Anthony] for help in controlling
the damage,” and “potential endorsement deals were yanked.” But during that time
his signature Jordan Brand shoe and No. 15 Nuggets jersey “hit No. 1 in sales
among active players.” Anthony said, “I probably lost a couple endorsement deals
with Fortune 500 companies, but I actually gained fans.” Rodney Bethea, who produced
“Stop Snitching,” said, “The DVD gave ‘Melo street cred on a national level. People
in other hoods saw it and said, ‘He understands. He’s like us’” (ESPN THE MAGAZINE,
1/30 issue). Bethea said that he is not going to use footage of Anthony in
“Stop Snitching II,” set to be released this month, because he “doesn’t want to
cause [Anthony] any more trouble” (ESPN.com, 1/18).

DOING GOOD WORK: Farrey reports Anthony recently filmed a guest appearance
on Nickelodeon’s “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” and has signed a letter
of intent to participate in a joint effort with Spider-Man creator Stan Lee. Anthony
has also written a children’s book titled “It’s Just the Beginning,” pledged $100,000
for Hurricane Katrina victims, raised money for Denver-area family services, donated
meals in Baltimore, his hometown, and bought a van for a wheelchair-bound teenager.
He also has financed “Prison Ball,” a documentary he narrates that “profiles some
imprisoned ballers and explores the forces that drive dysfunction in urban neighborhoods.”
The movie also “questions the wisdom of giving hard time to two-bit [drug] dealers.”
He hopes to premiere the film during NBA All-Star weekend. Anthony said, “I’ve
touched a lot of people. But all anyone sees is headlines: ‘Melo is a gangster,
‘Melo is a thug. No, ‘Melo is a good person. I got a mission” (ESPN THE MAGAZINE,
1/30). Anthony has said he “wants to be a leading voice of urban America.”
Univ. of Southern California professor Todd Boyd said that that makes him think
of Michael Jordan, “who went a different direction and became a voice of corporate
America.” Boyd: “If ‘Melo’s successful on court, if his team is successful, people
will embrace him. The street will embrace him. Madison Avenue will embrace him.
The suburbs embrace him. It all really depends on how ‘Melo plays” (ESPN.com,
1/18).

QUALITY CONTROL: Anthony said that for his “B More” Nike ad, which was
shot in Baltimore and “follows him as he walks late at night along a stretch of
abandoned rowhouses,” Nike “originally proposed a concept that had him buying
cars and playing video games.” He rejected the first version, “feeling it was
too much bling, too little substance,” and wanted to “keep it real.” Anthony:
“I worked for two days on the script. It was hard boiling my life down to 30 seconds”
(ESPN THE MAGAZINE, 1/30 issue).